Diplomat: ‘Russia must return Crimea’

LONDON – British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on March 22 said Russia “must return Crimea to Ukraine,” calling the Kremlin’s forcible annexation of the Black Sea peninsula last year “completely unacceptable.” He said, “The annexation of Crimea was illegal and illegitimate in March 2014, and remains illegal and illegitimate in March 2015.” His comments were posted on the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s website. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine after sending troops there and staging a secession referendum on March 16, 2014, that was declared illegal in an overwhelming vote in the United Nations. Mr. Hammond called the referendum a “sham” and a “fig leaf” for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “land grab.” He added, “This behavior threatens international security and has grave implications for the legal order that protects the integrity and sovereignty of all states.” The top British diplomat’s comments came a day after the one-year anniversary of Russia’s formal takeover of Crimea. “Since the illegal annexation, political freedom has [been] reduced and those who have dared to speak out have been threatened and subjected to violence,” he said. Mr. Hammond added that “human rights abuses in Crimea are particularly affecting ethnic minorities, with over 100 raids on Crimean Tatar homes reported” over the past year. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Interfax)